


The Condition

by ChatoyantPenumbra



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hugs, Light Angst, M/M, who the heck doesn't want to see Yusei and Bruno hugging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 20:12:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17168618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChatoyantPenumbra/pseuds/ChatoyantPenumbra
Summary: After months of working together, Bruno finally has more on his mind than he can keep to himself.





	The Condition

**Author's Note:**

> How the actual hell do I always manage to turn things into angst????? This WAS supposed to be purely fluff, but I ran with a prompt my friend gave me and this popped out. Please do enjoy! It's about damn time I wrote some toolshipping.

Unlike when Fudo codes alone, the garage is never silent when the both of them are at work.

 

The sounds of keyboard clicks drone constantly on, and just over it Yusei and Bruno conversate with their voices low, the typing ceasing intermittently as they point to the screens before them, noting coding errors preemptively and sometimes voicing a sudden epiphany they come to about the program they’re creating.

 

There’s something about the way they communicate, the way they glance at each other reassuringly with confident grins that, when they’re together, they’re an unstoppable force, a machine that pushes on and on with nothing but sheer willpower and passion, halted only by the severe lack of sleep or when the phase of the project they are working on has at last been completed. It’s been that way for months, to the point where Crow and Jack have both grown tired of trying to keep up with them and merely retire as normal to their respective rooms every night with the knowledge that they’ll wake just around the time that those two maniacs finally go to sleep.

 

But tonight, things aren’t normal.

 

On one side of the two-person desk sits a nearly cold cup of coffee, despite the lack of the intensity of work it would take for Yusei to forget about the much-needed caffeinated beverage that’s his ticket to keeping his eyes open for another couple of hours. Similarly, the cup of instant ramen sitting on the left of Bruno has gone too soft, ignored for so long that steam no longer wafts up from its closed top, the pair of chopsticks holding the flap closed likewise neglected.

 

Yusei knows there’s something off. Bruno’s barely glanced his way the last couple of hours, making barely a peep other than noting the most glaring details, but the duelist can tell it doesn’t stem from animosity. No, the amnesiac is far too kind to be capable of that kind of an attitude, but nonetheless, it’s been plaguing him the whole night. Their chemistry is normally fantastic, and now… now, it’s definitely not.

 

The garage lights are already dimmed in an attempt to save on electricity—lest they earn themselves another harsh scolding from Zora about the outrageous bill—so the blue of the screens before them illuminates their faces in such a way that casts harsh and obvious shadows when either of them happens to change expression. Bruno scowls for the umpteenth time that night, growing more distracted by the minute, and at last, Yusei can take no more of it, the boulder in the pit of his stomach finally dragging his body back into a recline against his chair frame—something he uses so little that he forgets it’s even there most of the time with how much he sits hunched forward in concentration.

 

Yusei’s sapphire gaze finally flickers to rest on Bruno’s face, and he can see the visible bob of the apple in the man’s throat as he swallows, as if with apprehension. Borrelli can harbor a rather nervous nature, but they both know Yusei’s nothing like Jack, who seems to bring it out of him the worst. They’ve been close from the start— _indescribably so_ , even—so Fudo’s brows also pull into a scowl as he realizes he’s probably, somehow, the source of the problem if Bruno isn’t talking.

 

And the thought of that is something he instantly resents. The last thing he wants to be is an uncomfortable influence. It’s the opposite of his very nature, the thing after which he was named. So the question leaves him finally.

 

“Are you okay?” Yusei studies his companion’s face, but he soon regrets scrutinizing too closely. Bruno takes one glance at him and immediately averts his gaze to his cup of forgotten ramen; Fudo nearly winces at how that stings, but makes his second shot at coaxing his friend to open up. “You’ve been… really quiet all night.”

 

Bruno’s chuckle comes a little too fast, sounding a tad too unnatural with his lips turned up in something that’s not quite a smile. It’s awkward, weird, and the both of them can feel the tension that’s beginning to draw so tight that it’ll surely snap if either of them are to put more pressure on it. The man’s actual response lags, and Yusei takes the opportunity to save the document they’re working on under a backup folder, knowing well that it’s not necessary; the file auto-saves every time an edit is made. But if nothing else, it’ll at least buy Bruno a couple of seconds when Yusei isn’t looking directly at him.

 

Yet, the words don’t come any easier to his counterpart when his eyes flicker to the screen, his gloved hand closing over the mouse for just a moment as he backs up the program. With a full view of Yusei’s countenance and the motion of his hand, the memory from earlier floods back into the amnesiac’s mind, remembering with perfect clarity how warm Yusei’s fingers had been over his own when the duelist had leaned in to more closely examine the engine prototype that had been on his screen, manoeuvring his mouse _with_ him to rotate the 3D model to view the sides and back. Yusei’s face had been inches away from his own, at which point he could even smell the scent of the medium roast Yusei had been drinking mingling with the scent of his cologne that was familiar but embarrassingly comforting by now.

 

Had the harsh tint of the computer screens not been on them, Bruno is sure the heat in his cheeks would be obvious at this point. His face feels like it’s on fire, but he manages to somehow scrap together the words he wants to say as little more than a mess of emotions he’s not sure he can even utter aloud.

 

Then, Yusei looks back at him, worriedly, and he loses it completely, back to square one and at a complete loss for words.

 

Bruno laughs again, and it’s just as unnatural as the first time, before he spins in his chair and rises from it, sitting in one place while trying to manage something so difficult beginning to feel like he’s being interrogated against his will, especially when Yusei’s eyes are still so focused on him. But how can he blame the duelist? That’s who he is—always more concerned for his friends and loved ones than he ever is for himself. Selfless. Kind. Lovely.

 

The exact reason Bruno’s heart is pounding against his ribs now.

 

“If I told you, you really might not like me anymore,” Borrelli manages finally, at least getting _something_ out instead of standing there like he’s incapable of speech. Absentmindedly, he kneels to pick up a handful of tools left on the ground next to the Yusei-Go, placing them back into the toolbox in which they belong. He doesn’t have to look, but he can already _feel_ Yusei’s expression growing more quizzical, seeing in his mind’s eye how the man’s brows pull just a hair closer together while his eyes narrow a similar fraction. Maybe that’s just a result of being around him damn near twenty-four-seven for months—he’s picked up on nearly every single one of Fudo’s tics and idiosyncrasies—but a little voice in the back of his head reminds him that he also has quite the habit of wanting to notice them, his eyes often lingering where Yusei is.

 

 _God,_ it’s embarrassing. He feels like a naïve schoolboy, falling in love for the first time in such an obvious and uncouth way. But Yusei’s possibly worse, because he’s certain both Crow _and_ Jack have caught the way he’s always standing at Yusei’s side, attention focused ever on him. Crow seems not to mind, but Jack most certainly has a bone to pick. Aki too, as he recalls the hot glares she’s shot in his direction after realizing Yusei, the one she came for, is occupied by none other than him. And yet, Yusei never notices. Bruno wouldn’t call him dense, but perhaps when it comes to anything other than dueling and platonic relationships, he simply doesn’t pay attention.

 

Guilt hits him again, and he wants to apologize to the others, but nevertheless he can’t make himself stay away. There’s just something about Fudo Yusei that snares him, draws him in, doesn’t let him go.

 

If only he could say that. This would all be a lot easier to explain if he could.

 

Bruno finally stops organizing the tools and finds the courage to chance another glance at the man in question. Yusei’s eyes so clearly give him away—he’s assessing the severity of the situation, thinking about how to respond, if he should stand and close the distance between them, if he should just stay put and let his friend have some space. He’s nearly teetering on the edge of his seat now, gloved hands gripping the sides of his armrest as if he’s about to rise, but he doesn’t. Bruno’s stormy gaze catches on the tanzanite that mirrors his, and he can feel himself shatter with how uncertain Yusei appears.

 

He can’t hide the truth. If Yusei asks—if he insists—he knows he doesn’t have the strength to lie to him.

 

“There’s nothing you can say to me that would make me dislike you, Bruno.” Yusei’s eyes are firm, and yet somehow, they’re paradoxically gentle. It’s then that he makes the decision to stand, closing the distance between them, before he too kneels and places a firm hand on his companion’s shoulder in that comforting way that he’s done since the beginning. Bruno’s heart falters, but it breaks when Yusei speaks again:

 

“We’re friends, no matter what; there’s nothing that can change that.”

 

A look of devastation flashes over Borrelli’s visage, and immediately Yusei feels the sharp sting of regret as he realizes he’s said something terribly wrong, even though he’s not sure what.

 

But for the first time, Bruno blurts out his response completely unregulated.

 

“What if being friends doesn’t feel like it’s enough?”

 

The garage goes dead silent. They both stare, wide-eyed at each other, like startled deer in the headlights.

 

Finally, Bruno swallows hard, and his eyes flicker down with the weight of his guilt. “What if I’m selfish?”

 

Yusei’s hand on his shoulder doesn’t move. It’s like they’re frozen there for millennia, like marble statues in a waiting game. Ever-so-faintly upstairs, they hear the soft drone of a snore. It’s Crow, sleeping on his back, with his mouth thrown open.

 

Bruno’s hesitant eyes meet with Yusei’s once more, and he brings himself to clasp his own, larger hand over Yusei’s, giving it a soft squeeze as Yusei’s emanates the same heat from earlier, when Fudo had done the same to him atop the mouse. He’s trying his luck, but Yusei doesn’t budge so much as an inch. His eyes are wide in surprise, but his gaze is pointed all the same. Bruno knows that look.

 

He’s still interested. There’s not a single ounce of disgust, of refusal, in those pools of tanzanite.

 

Borrelli somehow finds the courage to say what’s been on his mind for weeks.

 

“I love you.”

 

Yusei waits for the condition, the second part starting with, “but…” With everyone else, there’s almost _always_ a condition. With Kiryu, it was, _“follow me.”_ With Jack, it was, _“pursue me.”_ With Aki, it was, _“prove yourself to me.”_  

 

However, with Bruno, “but” doesn’t come. Instead, he finishes with a soft, “...no matter _what._ ”

 

He pulls Yusei in, slowly enough that he can protest, and yet he doesn’t. His arms wrap so tightly, so securely around him, and for once the duelist experiences something unconditional, with his head cradled against Bruno’s neck, and the spark he’s felt between them since the day they met finally makes sense.

 

“The last thing you are is selfish.”

 

Bruno chuckles in relief, and Yusei feels the alleviation of stress he experiences in the way Bruno’s body loses its rigidity and envelopes him all the closer. At last, Yusei smiles against his skin, and his arms curl too around his dearest companion.

**Author's Note:**

> Not truly my best work; I kinda feel like it's a little clunky in some areas, but I'm sure I'll go back and rewrite it when I'm not impulsively spilling it onto digital paper past midnight lmao. 
> 
> Anyway let me know how you guys felt about it!


End file.
